page_title: Hurricane Eloise
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Eloise / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: Satellite image of Hurricane Eloise (1975) in the Gulf of Mexico on September 22, 1975.
context_page_description: Hurricane Eloise was the most destructive tropical cyclone of the 1975 Atlantic hurricane season. The fifth tropical storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, Eloise formed as a tropical depression on September 13 to the east of the Virgin Islands. The depression tracked westward and intensified into a tropical storm while passing to the north of Puerto Rico. Eloise briefly attained hurricane intensity soon thereafter, but weakened back to a tropical storm upon making landfall over Hispaniola. A weak and disorganized cyclone, Eloise emerged into open waters of the northern Caribbean Sea; upon striking the northern Yucatan Peninsula, it turned north and began to re-intensify. In the Gulf of Mexico, the cyclone quickly matured and became a Category 3 hurricane on September 23. Eloise made landfall along the Florida Panhandle west of Panama City before moving inland across Alabama and dissipating on September 24.
  The storm produced torrential rainfall throughout the islands of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola, causing extensive flooding that led to severe damage and more than 40 deaths.
context_section_description: After touring the disaster area, Florida Governor Reubin Askew noted, "I think we're going to have to take a long, close look at some of the construction [...] Some of the structures simply won't be able to be built back in the exact location where they were." Governor Askew recruited 400 National Guard troops to prevent looting following the storm. He also requested the initial declaration of five counties along the Florida panhandle as national disaster areas, and stated that he would consider adding two more counties. The declaration would make residents in the counties recognized as disaster areas eligible to receive federal aid. Immediately following the storm, the mayor of Panama City criticized the state of Florida for failing to provide sufficient post-storm aid. Despite the destruction, the storm reportedly had some economic benefits; in the midst of rebuilding and recovery, business grew, especially in and around Panama City, and people began to move into the area. In at least one instance, the hurricane and its associated storm surge had a lasting effect on local geography, breaching Crooked Island in Bay County to create an inlet 0.75 miles (1.21 km) wide referred to as Eloise Inlet. Eloise provided a comprehensive base of information on beach and dune erosion along the Florida panhandle, which aided in the programming of certain erosion prediction numerical models. In 1995, reports from the aftermath of Hurricane Opal created a more extensive collection of data.
  On September 26, President Gerald Ford approved the declaration for Florida, and later issued a separate declaration for 30 counties in Pennsylvania as the storm's flooding rains progressed northward. Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Ernest Kline assigned 600 National Guardsmen to assist in the evacuation of flood victims and maintain security in storm-ravaged areas. Over $430 million in federal disaster relief was spent overall in 1975 and distributed to 92,000 families; the bulk of the funds went to recovery for areas affected by Hurricane Eloise along its entire course. In Maryland, Governor Marvin Mandel placed 10 of the state's 23 counties under a state of emergency. Following the severe damage caused by Hurricane Eloise, its name was retired at the end of the 1975 season and will never again be used for an Atlantic hurricane. However, Eloise was not replaced by any particular name due to the addition of male names into the lists in 1979.
caption: Eloise on September 22 in the Gulf of Mexico
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